Dentures

Wauconda Dental Excellence

Manuel Rodriguez, DDS

General & Cosmetic Dentist located in Wauconda, IL

Missing teeth can impact your self-confidence, cause a collapse of your facial structure, and create problems with chewing and speaking. Full or partial dentures are an effective replacement for missing teeth, especially if you’re not a candidate for implants or bridges. If you live in Wauconda, Illinois, call Wauconda Dental Excellence or use the online booking agent to benefit from the expert care of Dr. Manuel J. Rodriguez and learn if dentures are right for you.

Dentures Q & A

What are removable dentures?

Dentures are made from a gum-colored base composed of plastic resin. They fit directly over the bone ridge that held your natural teeth, and they're customized to match your coloration and look just like your natural teeth.

Full dentures can replace an entire row of missing teeth, while partial dentures replace one or several missing teeth.

What types of dentures are available?

Several types of dentures are available, depending on your needs. Dr. Rodriguez recommends the best type for you. Varieties of full dentures include:

Immediate dentures: serve as a temporary means of helping you transition to wearing dentures; usually placed right after tooth extraction

Conventional full dentures: permanent dentures that conform to your mouth with near perfect accuracy

Implant-supported overdentures: a row of prosthetic teeth anchored to implants, so they’re not removable and act and feel very much like your natural teeth

Partial dentures also come in a couple of different varieties, including:

Transitional partial dentures: serve as space maintainers and a temporary replacement if you had a procedure that required a tooth extraction

Removable partial dentures: replace one or more teeth and fit around other existing teeth; lighter and less obtrusive than other partial dentures

How are dentures made?

Dentures are crafted using an impression of your mouth. The staff at Wauconda Dental Excellence sends the impression out to a laboratory that works with Dr. Rodriguez to select the prosthetic teeth to recreate your smile.

Once your dentures come back from the lab, Dr. Rodriguez fits them in your mouth and makes any necessary adjustments to ensure a proper bite, so you can speak and chew normally.

Is it difficult to adjust to dentures?

Immediate dentures may not fit well after several weeks or months and need to be relined — or readjusted to fit your gums and bone structure. At that point, you may also choose to switch to conventional full dentures, which last longer and fit better.

It may take a few days or weeks to adjust to the feeling of dentures. Some slippage can affect your speech, and certain foods may be hard to eat. Talk to Dr. Rodriguez about what to expect and how to overcome these challenges.